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Dealers sell meth, LSD, on India’s online market

Basmati rice? Check. Pipe wrenches? Check. Human hair by the kilo? Check. And would you like to add 1,000 plastic combs for just $29?

If someone will buy it, someone is likely selling it on IndiaMart, the second-largest online wholesale marketplace on the planet in terms of the sheer number of products for sale.

Though less prosperous than Amazon or China’s Alibaba, the site is one of India’s top tech success stories — a lively conduit plugging India into an increasingly borderless online sales economy worth trillions.

But IndiaMart’s vendors are advertising a range of illicit products that you won’t find on Amazon or Alibaba. Such as methamphetamine, ecstasy and LSD.

Add to that almost every prescription-only upper or downer on the market. That includes Adderall, for a speedy high, and codeine syrup, a liquid opiate popularly mixed with Sprite. The designer drug “bath salts” is also on the menu. It’s advertised on IndiaMart with a photo of ready-to-snort white lines next to a rolled-up dollar bill.

“We don’t really have police trouble from this,” said a purported meth dealer who advertises on IndiaMart and goes by Daiichi.

“Look, I know this is a controlled substance,” he told GlobalPost by phone. “But we’re very discreet. We ship worldwide. We’re a verified seller and you can even confirm that with IndiaMart.”